Sports buzz: Nowitzki wants to play hoops - Kansas City Star

Nowitzki wants to play

Dallas Mavericks star Dirk Nowitzki is ready to play basketball again.

Nowitzki, the reigning NBA Finals MVP, recently returned to Germany to resume his customary workout routine. And with the NBA lockout well into its fifth month with no settlement in site, Nowitzki told ESPN.com on Saturday that he's going to find a team in Europe "soon."

"It's going to take me a few weeks to get in basketball shape," Nowitzki said, "but then I'm ready. I can't stand not playing."

•Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Ricky Rubio said he will consider playing for his former team Barcelona if the NBA season is canceled because of the ongoing lockout.

Henderson wins in UFC 139

Dan Henderson celebrated his return to the UFC with a unanimous decision over Mauricio Rua on Saturday night in a light heavyweight fight in San Jose, Calif.

The 41-year-old Henderson, 29-8, controlled the first three rounds of the slugfest, then held on over the final 10 minutes when Rua, 20-6, made a furious comeback.

Both fighters' eyes were severely swollen afterward, while Rua's white-and-green shorts were nearly entirely covered in crimson from the blood that flowed from each man.

"That guy can take a punch," Henderson said. "I hit him hard and I thought I could finish him the first two or three rounds but he finished strong."

Lakeside sets 2012 schedule

Lakeside Speedway, which lost the second half of its 2011 season because of flooding from the nearby Missouri River, will reopen in 2012.

The season opener at the track in Wyandotte County near Kansas Speedway is scheduled for Friday, April 13.

Season highlights include the World of Outlaws on June 30; USMTS Modified Series, July 13; ASCS Sprint Cars on Aug. 17-18; and the Jayhawk Modified Classic, Sept. 21-22. The season ends with the Late Model Showdown and Modified Shootout during Oct. 19-20.

Worth noting

•Roger Federer was voted the ATP fans' favorite player for the ninth straight year and won the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award, which is voted for by players, for a seventh time in eight years. Rafael Nadal won the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian Award for his charity work with the Rafa Nadal Foundation.

•Tobin Heath scored off a rebound in the 81st minute, helping the U.S. women's team tie Sweden 1-1 in an exhibition Saturday night in Glendale, Ariz.

•American Michael Grant stopped South Africa's Francois Botha in the 12th round and claimed the vacant WBF heavyweight title Saturday night in Johannesburg.

•Men's world champion Patrick Chan won the Trophee Bompard figure skating event in Paris, and 14-year-old Elizaveta Tuktamisheva captured the women's title.